Uber makes ambitious 5-year pledge for women drivers

Uber has made an ambitious promise – the taxi company recently vowed to create a million jobs for women within its platform by 2020.

The pledge, made in support of the UN Women Organisation, came on the 20th anniversary of the UN's Beijing Declaration - a plan to "advance the goals, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity."

Business Insider UK explained just how big this project is: "As of December 2014, it had 162,000 active drivers in the US, of which 14 per cent - just 22,680 - were women (Just one per cent of regular taxi drivers are women)“ it writes.

Why women? Because a company like Uber doesn't require minimum hours, making it appealing for women with families.

"Uber does not require (minimum) hours, and it does not require a schedule," said Salle Yoo, Uber's general counsel, in an interview Monday about why women might find working for Uber attractive, Reuters reports.

"It offers the chance to be entrepreneurial, the chance to balance work and family."

"This important mission can only be accomplished when all women have direct access to safe and equitable earning opportunities.

"We look forward to a partnership where UN Women and Uber will drive more access to these types of opportunities around the world,“ wrote UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in a joint statement.

The company has been criticised numerous times after a number of assaults by Uber drivers on female passengers were reported, including an alleged rape which happened in India.